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When Christopher Nolan announced that he'd be making an adaptation of "The Odyssey" as his latest project, film fans were generally thrilled.
Nolan, for his directorial or writing faults, is an exceptionally talented technical filmmaker, and seemed tailor made to bring ancient Greece and the legendary story to life. Matt Damon was cast as Odysseus, the lead character whose hero's journey became the basis of storytelling for thousands of years to come. While Damon isn't Greek, it was generally an inoffensive choice.
Much of the rest of the casting? Could not have been worse. And while "The Odyssey" is still likely to be a financial success, judging by reactions to the latest, final trailer that hit the internet recently, it's decisions like these clear that audiences are not thrilled with what Nolan's done with a foundational, beloved story.
Nolan cast Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy, the daughter of a Kenyan politician who was born in Mexico City. He cast Elliot Page, a 5'1 transgender actor, as Sinon, a soldier and the cousin of Odysseus. Indian actor Himesh Patel will portray Eurylochus, one of the key members of Odysseus' group. Rapper Travis Scott is set to play a Homeric bard. Reactions to these announcements were mixed, to say the least.
While YouTube long ago hid the number of dislikes on videos, several sites have come up with methodology to estimate and calculate the ratio of positive and negative responses. While the numbers may or may not be exactly accurate, directionally, it's likely to be representative of the public's views. And some estimators have now calculated that there are over 542,000 dislikes on the final trailer, compared to 64,000 "likes." A ratio of nearly 90% negative to positive.
That's bad enough, but Nyong'o made some public comments this week during the film's promotional campaign that once again demonstrated her contempt for the source material. Source material that she admitted she'd never even heard of, despite graduating with a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama.
When asked by an interviewer what she would ask Homer if given the opportunity, she instead answered with a criticism, "I'd be like, 'So Homer, how do you feel about the screen time given to these women, considering how little you spent with them, okay?'"
The interviewer then added, "Okay, and then do you lean forward and look at him like that?" Nyong'o answered, "Yes, like 'hmm, remember us?'"
Ah yes, exactly what you want out of a film's promotional campaign; criticism that the 2,800-year-old story your film is based on doesn't conform to the modern standards of left-wing ideologues. Not to mention that the main inciting incident in the story is that the Trojan War starts due to disagreements over...Helen of Troy, a woman.
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These reactions and Nyong'o's ill-advised comments don't mean that "The Odyssey" will fail. It's widely expected to be a financial success, particularly because Nolan has established himself as one of the few quality filmmakers working in modern Hollywood. But these casting decisions are bewildering, to say the least, and will certainly cost the film ticket sales and potential revenue.
It's one thing to specifically choose to ignore historical accuracy in order to appeal to "modern audiences." It's another to show this level of contempt for the source material your film is based on. Why even make "The Odyssey," then? Why not make another mythological story, with your own sensibilities and ideologies baked into it?
The entertainment industry has struggled mightily in recent years, and it's decisions like this that demonstrate why. If we could ask Nolan one question, it'd be why he chose to undermine his own legacy to receive praise from the political left.
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